Located in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy—and housed in a former 19th-century sly grog shop, or unlicensed liquor store—Books for Cooks sells volumes old and new. What book do all Australian home cooks have in the kitchen? "Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion is the best loved bible in the country," says owner Tim White. "It's bigger (and arguably better) than the Joy of Cooking, Fannie Farmer, or anything similar."

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Food is the universal language, so it makes sense that cookbook stores exist in just about every corner of the globe. We rounded up some of our favorite literary-gourmet hotspots and asked their owners about the most popular, beloved, and bestselling cookbooks in their stores.

Their answers were very different, except for one: almost every shop reported “any book by Yotam Ottolenghi” as their no. 1 seller last year. So maybe food is the universal language—with a standard accent shaped by the bold, textured, Middle East–inspired flavors created in a Notting Hill deli?

Located in the Melbourne suburb of Fitzroy—and housed in a former 19th-century sly grog shop, or unlicensed liquor store—Books for Cooks sells volumes old and new. What book do all Australian home cooks have in the kitchen? "Stephanie Alexander's The Cook's Companion is the best loved bible in the country," says owner Tim White. "It's bigger (and arguably better) than the Joy of Cooking, Fannie Farmer, or anything similar."